Forty bodies have been recovered in the search for the missing AirAsia plane and a “shadow” has been spotted on the seabed.

The bodies – which were not wearing life jackets – have been brought on board a navy ship, said Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Director SB Supriyadi.

Local television broadcast pictures of the bodies floating in the sea.

“At 12:50 the air force Hercules found an object described as a shadow at the bottom of the sea in the form of a plane,” said Mr Supriyadi.

A navy spokesman added: “The warship Bung Tomo has retrieved 40 bodies and the number is growing. They are very busy now.”

They were found in the Java Sea about six miles (10km) from where the plane last communicated with air traffic control.

Officials also confirmed that large items spotted earlier, including items resembling a plane door and an emergency slide, were part of the plane.

AirAsia boss Tony Fernandes said he was rushing to the scene and wrote on Twitter: “My heart is filled with sadness for all the families involved in QZ 8501.

“On behalf of AirAsia my condolences to all. Words cannot express how sorry I am.”

The Airbus A320-200 disappeared from radar on Sunday on its way from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore.

There were 162 passengers on board, including one British man, Chi Man Choi, and his two-year-old daughter.

The aircraft’s last request – to climb higher to avoid a storm – was turned down. Minutes later it fell off the radar.

Geoffrey Thomas, editor of AirlineRatings.com, told Sky News: “We have a radar plot which shows the plane actually climbing through 36,300ft – it wasn’t given permission to do that.

“It also shows that its speed had decayed by 134mph and dropped dramatically to a level where it couldn’t sustain flight.”

Some 30 ships and 21 aircraft from South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and Indonesia have been involved in the search.